Last year, just before Christmas, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul granted
clemency to Travell Coleman, who we know as former Bad Boy recording artist G. Dep, after he served 13 years of a 15 years to life sentence. He was released from prison on April 4.The Harlem rapper was free to leave the Fishkill Correctional Facility in Upstate New York. His release from prison was captured and posted on social media as family and friends greeted him as he left the facility. As he carried a large bag with his belongings, he sported a bald head with a salt-and-pepper beard and embraced the people who came to meet him at the prison exit.
Another video shows the “Special Delivery” rapper having a meal with his family at a local IHOP. As he shows the camera the menu of his first free meal in over a decade, he says, “I’m free at last.”
G. Dep killed a 32-year-old man, John Henkel, in 1993 when he was trying to rob him; G. Dep was never caught and literally got away with murder. This took place before he signed to Bad Boy Records in 1998 and released his album, “Child of the Ghetto,” which featured his two most recognizable songs, “Let’s Go” and Special Delivery” in 2001.
His rap career eventually slowed down. In 2010, he said his conscience made him turn himself in to confess to committing the deadly crime. He took himself to the 25th Precinct in Harlem to give himself up to face the punishment for his crime.
Fast forward to 2024, an application for clemency was supported by the attorney who prosecuted him and the judge who presided over his case. The rapper was one of 16 people Hochul granted clemency to last year.